P.O.W.ER by Lisa A. Kramer Review

"P.O.W.ER
What would happen if women and girls joined their unique abilities together to change the world? In a world where access to the written word is reserved to men, Andra BetScrivener has been able to read and write ever since she was a little girl without anyone teaching her. She must keep her abilities a secret in the country of New North, or she could lose her hands, her eyes or her life. In fact, the only paths offered to her–and all young women–are to either marry or enter the government-run Women’s Training Program, where she’ll be taught “feminine” arts like drawing, painting, and homemaking.

On her seventeenth birthday, Andra discovers that her abilities extend beyond reading. She can write events to life. As she begins to explore her new ability, she must take care not to jeopardize her father’s job as head scrivener at the Ministry. Despite her efforts to keep her powers hidden, she comes to the attention of both the government and a rebel group, who each desire to use Andra for their own goals. At the same time, she begins to meet other gifted women who have never dared use their unique powers. With the help of her friends Brian and Lauren—who has the ability to read minds—Andra must find a way to unite the power of women to create change.

When one side manipulates Andra’s words into killing someone, and the other threatens her father’s life and her own freedom, Andra decides to use her writing to empower others to stop governmental oppression. But in a society ruled by lies, cruelty, and inequality her journey will not be easy or safe.

For each book sold, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to causes that support women and children around the world."

I won a copy from Goodreads First Reads.

So. P.O.W.ER is a really annoying name. There are way too much periods and all those things, so I'm just going to simply call it "POWER." Because that is so much easier. And less periods. Less typing. (Okay, I have to stop babbling). 

POWER is a really interesting book. It reminds me of another book I'd read a long, long time ago. Umm... For the life of me, I can't recall the name, but it is similar to this book. Very similar. The world of POWER has oppression. There is a conflict. Women are oppressed and hand off like mules. They aren't allowed to read or write. Honestly, this is almost Medieval. And it is all in the name of God (so POWER is sort of religious but not enough to be placed into that genre). 

There is a really fascinating notion to the book. The concept placed in the book by Kramer is both horrifying and crazy. Honestly, it reminds me of many Third World countries. But there is a difference (of course). Think of X-Men. But instead of X-Men, it is X-Women. All of the special people are woman and solely woman. 

There is this strange thing about equality. I have a lot of mixed feelings about POWER and the concept of that power. Let me say that the power part is a bit weird, but I'm going to let that go before I ramble off the next fifty pages about equal rights. (Yes, yes, yes. I'm insane). 

Andra has a special power. She can write things out and make them come true (but with limits). Obviously, the Law of Conservation applies to her power, because she can't make food come out of nowhere. Andra is definitely empowering, and she is inspirational in her own right. 

Let's talk about POWER's plot. Now, just looking at the plot, I will tell you that this book isn't ready. There are some awkward landings here and there. Some parts doesn't flow very well, and other parts are a bit jarring. Think of a shattered mirror. It is the only mirror you have, so you put it back together very nicely. The only problem is that there are pieces missing and that there are cracks in the mirror. That is exactly what the plot is like. Missing events (or at least, a disconnection between one event to another) and bumpy roads. The delivery is off at some points.

And the villain of the story is definitely a very large bump. I can't reveal his/her name, because that is a spoiler. 

Overall, POWER needs more editing. There are some well-written characters, but the villain is bloody awful. The special powers... Well, I'm not going to get into that. But POWER remains interesting and entertaining, so...

Rating: Two Point Five out of Five (Rounded To Three)